Tag Archives: ornaments

Hodge and Podge and Eric are all ready for Christmas now that they have Santa hats to wear. You may notice that in addition to jolly red hats, they’re also sporting Ugly Christmas Sweaters. That’s because before December 25 rolls around, we have December 12 to celebrate. That’s right. This Friday is National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day and these squirrels want to throw an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.

Would your squirrel friend like to join us? Stay tuned for my free ugly sweater pattern for your squirrel friend, which will be out later this week. If you don’t have a squirrel friend, you’ll want to check it out too. I’ll be showing you how to make these into cute and hilarious Ugly Christmas Sweater ornaments. We’ll also give some thought to the motivation behind this new trend: is it ironic or just nostalgic? I’m curious to know what you think.

Who doesn’t love a gingerbread man? It was certainly my favorite cookie when I was growing up. My mom had cookie cutters for both a gingerbread man and a gingerbread woman. My favorite part of baking these cookies with my mom was to work the piping bag full of icing. It was so much fun to give the gingerbread woman crazy ringlets of hair and to decorate the gingerbread man with buttons or sometimes a tie.

Have fun decorating your gingerbread man. Use whatever you have on hand or come up with something entirely new. He doesn’t have to be a conventional cookie. Add a vest, chaps, and a handkerchief around his neck to make him a cowboy. Add an eye patch, peg leg, and striped shirt to make him a pirate. Give your gingerbread man a Speedo and six-pack abs. The skies the limit! Your gingerbread man can be anything he wants to be.

Finally, thread a ribbon through a stitch at the top of his head and your crochet gingerbread man will look right at home on your Christmas tree. He would also look quite sharp holding on to a bow on your present to someone special.

Row 7 (join the legs and start the body): Ch 1, sc in ea of the next 3 scs, 2 sc in last sc. Pick up the first leg and 2 sc in first sc of first leg. Sc in ea sc across. Do not FO, turn. (10)

Body

Row 8-11: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 12: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 6 scs, sc2tog, turn. (8)

Row 13: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 14: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 4 scs, sc2tog, turn. (6)

Row 15: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across. Do not FO.

Arms

Row 1: Turn the body on its side and pull up a loop at the end of Row 15. (Not in two loops of the sc, but the post at the end.) Ch 1. Sc in the posts at the end of Rows 14, 13, and 12. Turn. (4)

Row 2-6: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 7: Ch 1, sc, sc2tog, sc. FO.

Repeat for arm on opposite side, working in the posts at the beginning of rows 15, 14, 13, and 12. FO.

Head

Row 1: Miss 1st sc. Pull up a loop in the next sc and join with slst. 2 sc in same sc, sc in ea of next 2 scs, 2 sc in last sc, turn. (6)

Row 2: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 3: Ch 1, 2 sc in 1st sc, sc in next 4, 2 sc in last sc, turn. (8)

Row 4: Rep row 2.

Row 5: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 4, sc2tog, turn. (6)

Row 6: Rep row 2.

Row 7: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 2, sc2tog. FO

Work in all ends.

Assembly

Sew on the eyes and buttons and embroider the mouth.

Arrange the two sides with wrong sides facing, making sure that the holes at the ends and beginnings of each row line up.

Insert your crochet hook into one of the holes along the edge (through both the front and back), pull up a loop of white yarn, and slst. Rep for the next hole and so on all the way around until you have about an inch or so left.

Stuff the gingerbread man lightly.

Continue to sew the rest of the gingerbread man together using the slst method.

To end, insert your crochet hook up from the bottom, through the first slst and pull the last slst down to the back. FO.

When I was deciding on which Christmas cookies to crochet for this series, I googled “popular American Christmas cookies,” and believe it or not, the Christmas Story Leg Lamp cookie came up. How awesome is it that they now sell cookie cutters in the shape of the iconic leg lamp from the famous movie?

I just had to crochet this, and now you can too! Displayed on a plate or hanging on your tree, these cookies are sure to catch the attention of everyone in the room. It’s a major award!

Do you remember making “snakes” (either with clay or dough) when you were a kid? Kids love rolling the dough on the table or between their hands until a snake appears, seemingly by magic. Many things can be made with these “snakes.” There’s coffee mugs if you’re using clay and pretzels if you’re using dough, but we’re talking Christmas here, so we’ll concentrate on my personal favorite use of a dough snake… the candy cane sugar cookie.

To re-create this classic Christmas cookie in yarn, I would need to make two long snakes in red and white. That was easy – just make I-cords! But then came the question of how to twist them together. I deliberated over adding wire or sewing the two strands together, until my husband provided a great solution – torsion! This tutorial will show you how by twisting one cord really tight and tying it to the other, the two cords become entwined and stay that way. (But don’t ask me to explain the physics. I like to believe it’s just magic.)

I thought we’d start off the Great Cookie Countdown with the easiest and most versatile of the patterns — your basic sugar cookie. Using embellishments like beads or embroidery, you can make a variety of cookies from this one pattern. Later I will show you how to use this pattern to make an iced sugar cookie and a chocolate chip cookie.

Stack top and bottom together with RS facing out. Using the long tail from the top, sew together along the edges. When you’re a little more than halfway around, stuff very lightly before sewing the rest together.

Embroider a design, as if with icing.

Or sew on beads for sprinkles.

And don’t forget the smiley face!

To proudly display your cookies, you might arrange them on a plate for Santa
or thread a ribbon through a stitch on the edge and hang them on your Christmas tree.

Every year my company holds a Christmas cookie exchange in December. I’ve participated for several years, but last year I was so busy with the blog that I didn’t have time to do any baking. I even joked with one of my coworkers that I should crochet the cookies instead. So this year, that’s exactly what I’m doing.

If you have a favorite cookie that you think I should try to re-create in yarn, let me know. I hope to make this a holiday tradition at the picnic and would love to try to include your cookie next year.

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Welcome to the picnic!

Hi there! I'm Jennifer Olivarez and these two little squirrels are Hodge and Podge. Whether you’re looking for whimsical patterns, lighthearted comics, or something to smile about, you’ve come to the right place and we're so happy you're here.